1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic media dispenser, and particularly, to a media sensing method for an automatic media dispenser which is able to discriminate thickness of media, length of media, distance between two media, and skew of media using minimum sensors in a mini automatic media dispenser.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, an automatic media dispenser is an apparatus by which a customer of a financial agency is able to perform operations of a teller such as withdrawal of cash and check, inquiry, and remittance, etc. Therefore, the automatic media dispenser is on-line connected to a host computer of the bank, and when the customer puts a bankbook, a cash card, or a credit card into a card/bankbook inlet, the withdrawal is made through an outlet of the automatic media dispenser.
The automatic media dispenser senses discharged media by discriminating the thickness, the length of media, distance between two media, and skew of media during the media are discharged.
FIGS. 1A through 1D are exemplary views showing examples of media sensed as normal/abnormal for respective media sensing factors.
In FIG. 1A, in case that two media are overlapped, the length is sensed to be longer than that of normal media, and therefore, the discharged media are decided as abnormal.
In FIG. 1B, the distance between presently discharged media and next media, and if the distance is shorter than that of normal case, the discharged media is decided as abnormal status.
In FIG. 1C, in case that the discharged media are skewed, the media are decided as abnormal status.
In FIG. 1D, the thickness of the media is measured, and if two media are overlapped, the media are decided as abnormal.
Accordingly, the automatic media dispenser uses various sensors in order to discriminate the media through the above factors. For example, a large automatic media dispenser uses a rotary variable differential transducer (RVDT) sensor for measuring the thickness of media, and four light sensors respectively including a luminous unit and a light-intercepting unit for discriminating the length of the media, the distance between two media, and the skew of the media. That is, the light sensor uses two feed sensors installed on left and right sides in the automatic media dispenser for discriminating the length of the media, uses a distance sensor for measuring the distance between media, and uses a skew sensor for discriminating the skew of media.
The media sensing method for the automatic media dispenser using the RVDT sensor and four light sensors will be described as follows.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the media sensing method for the automatic media dispenser using the RVDT sensor and four light sensors according to the conventional art.
A controlling board of the automatic media dispenser checks whether or not respective sensors are operated normally when a request for cash withdrawal is transmitted from the customer, and operates an AC motor (main motor) by controlling it (S11xcx9cS17). At that time, if there is an error in the respective sensors and in the AC motor, processing disabled status is outputted (S45). Also, if there is no error in the AC motor, the DC motor is operated for discharging the media stored in a cassette (S19 and S21).
After that, the media discharged from the cassette are sensed in the two feed sensors for discriminating the length. Accordingly, the controlling board turns off the DC motor and the feed sensor (S23xcx9cS29).
The discrimination of length of the media is made by measuring on/off time of the right feed sensor among those feed sensors (S31). That is, during the media move along with a transferring path on which the feed sensor is installed, the voltage value of the light-intercepting unit in the feed sensor is maintained to be 0V during the media pass, and the voltage value is changed to +5V after the media passed. Therefore, the time of voltage change from +5V to 0V is measured to measure the length of the media.
After that, in case that the length of the media is normal, the distance and the skew are discriminated. That is, the distance between media and the skew of the media are discriminated by turning on the distance sensor and the skew sensor to detect the distance between the discharged media and the skew of the media (S33xcx9cS37). That is, in order to measure the distance between the first media and next media, the on/off time of the distance sensor for the first media and the on/off time of left feed sensor for next media are compared.
The skew of the media is measured by measuring time between turning-off of the feed sensor and turning-on of the distance sensor and of the skew sensor to measure the skew on right and left sides. At that time, if there is an error in the values detected from the sensors, the processing disabled status is outputted (S45).
In addition, if the distance and the skew are decided as normal, the distance sensor and the skew sensor are turned off and the thickness sensor is turned on to measure the thickness of the media, and then the media are discharged (S39xcx9cS41). At that time, if there is an error in the measured values, the processing disabled status is outputted (S45).
As described above, the media sensing method for the conventional large automatic media dispenser uses the RVDT sensor and four sensors detecting respective discrimination factors in order to discriminate the thickness, length of the discharged media, distance between successive media, and skew of the media. However, in case that the RVDT sensor and four sensors are applied to a mini automatic media dispenser, a sufficient area for disposing the sensors is required and circuit for processing signals of the sensors becomes complex, and therefore, cost price of the automatic media dispenser is increased.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a media sensing method for an automatic media dispenser which is able to discriminate discharged media using minimum sensor.
To achieve the object of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a media sensing method for an automatic media dispenser for discriminating media which are discharged in abnormal status by measuring skew of the media, length of the media, thickness of the media, and a distance between successive media using a rotary variable differential transducer (RVDT) sensor and a feed sensor installed on left/right sides of a transferring path through which the media are moved after being discharged from a cassette as responding to a request for cash withdrawal.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.